Roll stand for converting equipment



Nov. 18 1969 H. E. ROSCOE ETAL 3,478,974

' ROLL STAND FOR CONVERTING EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1F'I[E'| E INVENTORS HOWARD E. ROSCOE EDGAR L.NELSON JZU W ATTORNEYS Nov.18, 1969 Filed Jan. 2, 1968 P RUNNING POSITION LOADING POSITION H. E.ROSCOE ETAL 3,478,974

ROLL- STAND FOR CONVERTING EQUIPMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

INVENTORS HOWARD E. ROSCOE EDGAR L.NELSON ATTORNEYS Nov. 18, 1969 H. E.Ro scoE ETAL 3,478,974

ROLL STAND FOR CONVERTING EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. 2, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTORS HOWARD E. ROSCOE EDGAR L.NELSON BYEW ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent ROLL STAND FOR CONVERTING EQUIPMENT Howard E. Roscoe, BrownCounty, Wis., and Edgar L.

Nelson, Menominee County, Mich., assignors to FMC Corporation, San Jose,Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 695,077Int. Cl. B65h 19/30 US. Cl. 24258 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREning position. While one mill roll is being unwound the operator thenmounts another mill roll on the other end of the shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to an unwind stand for flexible webs used in various convertingoperations.

Description of the prior art Converting equipment such as printingpresses, bag machines and napkin machines are supplied with one or moremill rolls of flexible web material wound on a paper core. Imprintingpresses it is usual to provide an unwind stand for paying out the web tothe printing stations and a rewind stand for winding the printed web. Toplace a new roll on the unwind stand, a heavy core shaft is insertedthrough the core whereupon the roll is picked up by a crane andpositioned on the unwind stand which is supplied with bearings, usuallyof a split type, for supporting the core shaft. Supplying a new millroll to converting equipment requires interruption of production and italso requires the operator to handle a heavy core shaft.

By virtue of the present invention, the down time of the convertingequipment is reduced and the steps involved in supplying a new mill rollto converting equipment is simplified by eliminating the necessity ofhandling heavy equipment by the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an important feature of the presentinvention to provide a core shaft arrangement having a running positionand a loading position such that when the web of the roll in the runningposition has been exhausted, the mill roll in the loading position canbe quickly located in the running position. To this end, an elongatecenter supported core shaft is mounted on a pivotal support whichpermits rotation of the core shaft in a horizontal plane. When oneportion of the core shaft is located in the running position, anoutboard support engages the end of the shaft and thus renders it rigidas the web is unwound.

It is a further and equally important feature of this invention tosimplify the procedure in mounting a mill roll on a converting machine.The method disclosed herein obviates the necessity of inserting a coreshaft into the mill roll core tube since the roll supporting core shaftis arranged to provide a loading position and it is permanently carriedby the machine frame. All that is required to prepare a mill roll forunwinding operation is to lift,

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usually by means of a crane, the mill roll onto the core shaft while thesame core shaft carries a mill roll which is being unwound. Not onlydoes this relieve the operator of unnecessary core shaft handling, but afull mill roll is in ready postion while the converting machine is inoperation.

Further, in accordance with this invention, a novel mechanism isprovided for accurately centering the mill roll at the unwind position.These means preferably comprise a reversibly rotatable shaft geared torotate the core shaft in opposite directions. The core shaft isconnected to left and right hand screws which effect axial movement ofthe core shaft, to the left or to the right when it is rotated.Centering can be accomplished from a remote position during running ofthe mill roll.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of tandemunwind stands for supplying web material to a napkin folding machine.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the structure shown on FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged off-set section of one unwind stand takensubstantially along the line 3-3 of FIG- URE 6.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged section of the core shaft supporting structure.

FIGURE 4A is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4A4A of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of the outboard support of the core shaftas viewed in the direction of the arrows 55 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of the unwind stand taken substantiallyalong the line 66 of FIGURE 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An apparatus embodying thesubject matter of the present invention is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 andit is generally designated by the numeral 10. It is preferablyillustrated for use with a conventional embosser unit 12 and a napkinfolder 14, the constructional details of which are unimportant inunderstanding the principles of the present invention. The embosser unit12 and the napkin folder 14 are shown correlated with a plurality ofinline tandem unwind stands 16A, 16B and 16C, the first second and thirdunwind stands respectively as viewed from left to right. Each of thesestands are operated concurrently to supply webs WA, WB and WC to theembosser unit where they are laminated to provide a threeply web to thenapkin folder. The napkin folder cuts and folds the laminated web anddischarges the napkins in a stack on an accumulating platform. In theusual installation, each of the webs is used to supply napkins to itsown discharge lane. Accordingly, it is possible, and desired in manyinstallations to set up the napkin folder with three levels ofdischarge.

Each of these unwind stands includes web tension controlling means 18A,18B and 18C and surface drive belts 20A, 20B and 20C coordinated withthe tension control means to maintain a desired degree of web tension.Each of the roll stands 16A, 16B and 16B are provided with side framemembers 22 and 24 for rotatably supporting a plurality of web directingidler rolls, all of which are indicated by the numeral 26.

On each of the side frame members 22 there is rigidly mounted anupwardly extending column or pedestal 28 shown in greater detail inFIGURE 3. The pedestal rotatably supports a tubular spindle 30 having aflanged portion 32 supporting a box-like structure of housing 34.Through this housing a shaft 36 extends and projects outward therefromdefining cantilevered portions 36L, the left being loading position, and36R, right being the running position. The tubular spindle 30 isrotatably mounted inthe'column 28 by bearings 38 and the shaft 36 ismounted for rotation in the housing 34- by bearings 40. Mounting thetubular spindle for rotation relative to the pedestal 28 enables theoperator to rotate shaft 36 in a horizontal plane and thereby position.themill roll carried by the shaft portion 36L to the running positionwhile the shaft portion 36R is positioned in the loading position.

. When the cantilever shaft portions 36L or 36R are located in therunning position the outboard support 42 engages the end of the shaft.As shown in FIGURE 3, the support 42 is mounted on and extends upwardlyfrom the side frame member 24 and it includes a clamping structure 44which is selectively engageable with a bearing 46 mounted on each end ofthe shaft 36. This bearing has an outer race fitted within a cup 48, asshown in FIGURE 5, that is clamped between a stationary jaw 50 and amovable jaw 52. The function of the hearing is to enable the shaft toturn within the cup when clamped between the jaws and to provide supportfor the shaft. The movable jaw is attached to an actuator rod 54slidably fitted through a bracket 56. A lever 58 is pivotably connectedby a pin 60 to the upper end of the outboard support 42 and it isconnected at 62 to the operating rod 54. The lever 58 is also pinned toa clevis connection 64 that is attached to the rod of an actuator 66. Asshown in FIGURE 3, the actuator is attached to a bracket 68 that ismounted to the 'outboard support 42.

A conventional air valve 70, shown in FIGURE 3, mounted on the sideframe member 22 is connected to the actuator 66 and supplies air toretract or extend the piston rod carrying the clevis connection 64 whichthereby raises or lowers the movable jaw 52. Mere inspection of thearrangement shown in FIGURE 3 makes it apparent that upon retraction ofthe piston, the movable jaw 52 is raised freeing the shaft 36 fortranslation in a horizontal plane by the operator when it is desired tolocate the other cantilevered end of the shaft to the running position.

The outwardly extending ends of the shaft 36 are slidably received inelongate tubular sleeves 72, having inner ends provided with radiallyextending brackets 74. Extending inward from the brackets are guidingrods 76 being slidably received in bores formed in the housing 34. Theguide rods 76 are for the purpose of preventing rotation of the tubularsleeves 72 while allowing axial movement relative to the shaft portions36L and 36R. To mount a mill roll for rotation with respect to thesleeves 72, core plug structures 78 are provided and they are slidablyfitted on the sleeves 72. Since each of the core plugs 78 are identicalin construction, the inboard one shown in FIGURE 4 will be described indetaiL'The inner race of a bearing 80 is fixed to a step collar 82 whichis slidably fitted on the tubular sleeve 72. A setscrew 84 fixes thecollar to the sleeve 72. The outer race of the bearing 80 is fixed in abellfihousing 86 having a reduced diameter extension 88 that is taperedat 90. The core, indicated by the letter C, of the mill roll is fittedover the extension 88 and the tapered portion 90 facilitates location ofthe core thereon. Due to the fact that the bell housing 86 rotatesduring unwinding of a mill roll and the fact that the tubular sleeves 72are restrained against rotation by the guide rods 76, a bored portion 92of the bell housing is of sufiicient diameter to be spaced from theouter surface of the tubular sleeve 72.

Since it is necessary to remove the core of an expired roll before a newmill roll can be mounted on the shaft, the outboard core plug structures78 are removed by merely loosening the respective setscrews 84. After anew mill roll is located on the shaft portion that is inthe loadingposition, the core plug structure is slipped on the shaft, seated withinthe core and held in position by tightening its associated setscrew. Itshould be noted that the outside diameter of the bearing cups 48 aresmaller than the inside diameter of the core plug bored portion 92 topermit removal of the core plug.

In view of the above construction, it should be readily apparent thatthe structure thus far described provides a core shaft having a loadingand running position. While one portion of the core shaft is in therunning positon, the outboard end thereof is rigidly supported to holdthat portion of the core shaft steady while the mill roll is beingunwound.

As mentioned in the introduction of this specification, one of the novelfeatures of the present invention is the provision of means foraccurately centering the longitudinal medium of the mill roll withrespect to the desired web path of the converting machine. Theparticular mechanisms for accomplishing this result are shown and willbe explained in connection with FIGURES 3 and 4. On the side framemember 22, a reversible motor 94 is connected to a gear reduction 96suitably attached to the frame member 22. An upwardly extending shaft98, mounted for rotation centrally of the tubular spindle 30, isconnected to the gear reduction unit 96 by conventional sprocket chaindrive 100. Geared to the upper end of the shaft 98 is a bevel piniongear 102 (FIG. 4) in mesh with a bevel gear 104 that is keyed to theshaft 36. Also secured to the shaft 36 is a thrust disc 106 which servesto prevent axial movement of the shaft 36 relative to the housing 34.FIGURE 4A shows a bracket 108 rigidly attached to the housing 34. Thebracket securely mounts stub shafts 110 which rotatably support rollers112 to engage the opposite faces of the thrust disc 106. Thisarrangement accordingly prevents axial shifting of the shaft 36.

Referring to FIGURE 3 it will be observed that the ends of the shaft 36are provided with reduced diameter threaded portions 114, one portionbeing threaded in a right hand manner and the other portion beingthreaded in a left hand manner. Each threaded portion of the shaft isengaged in tapped ends 116 of the tubular sleeves 72. Since the sleeves72 are slidable with respect to the shaft 36 and rotation of the sleevesis prevented by virtue of the guide rods 76, rotation of the shaft 36causes the sleeves 72 to be displaced axially by virtue of the left andright hand threaded portions 114 threadedly engaged in the tapped ends116. Such lateral shifting is, as mentioned above, for the purpose ofcentering the mill roll With the converting machine.

The degree of such lateral adjustment is determined by a limit switch118 carried by a bracket 120 which is welded or fixed, as desired, tothe pedestal or column 28. As shown in greater detail in FIGURE 4, theoperating rod of the limit switch 118 is mounted to a lug 122, which inturn carries a plate 124 having upwardly extending laterally spacedabutment members 126 mounted thereon. Located between the members 126 isa rod 128, attached by a nut and thread arrangement to the bracket 74.The amount of lateral translation of the sleeves 72 relative to theshaft 36 is determined by the limit switch 118. In FIGURE 4 the fullline representation of a rod 128 illustrates the limit of inwardtranslation of the sleeve 72, whereas the phantom outline representationof a portion of the shaft 128 illustrates the limit of outwardadjustment of the sleeve 72.

When the reversible motor 94 is energized to move the mill roll that isin running position to the left or right, as viewed in FIGURE 3, themotor is electrically deenergized in the event the rod 128 strikes theabutment member 126-I or 126-O thus actuating the limit switch 118. Whenrunning mill rolls of a lesser width than that shown in the accompanyingdrawings, the centering function of the invention is not affected sincethe inboard core plug structure 78 are moved outwardly from theillustrated position a sufficient extent to locate the nominal center ofthe mill roll in substantial alignment with the converting machine.Minor adjustments can be made once unwinding is commenced by actuatingthe reversible motor 94. Should it be found that the limit switch 118 isactuated, electrically de-energizing the motor 94, manual resetting ofthe core plug structures 78 would be required.

In view of the above explanation, it is readily apparent that theinvention provides the operator with controls and mechanisms to veryaccurately adjust the position of the mill roll so that it is centeredwith that of the converting machine.

At each unwind stand, the mill roll is driven by a surface drive beltsimilar to belt 20B, shown in FIGURE 6. This endless type belt istrained about a drive pulley 132 and a driven pulley 134, and has anupper run 136 which contacts the peripheral surface of the mill roll.The drive pulley is mounted on a drive shaft 138 that is journalledwithin side frame members 22 and 24, while a driven pulley 140 ismounted on the drive shaft. A variable diameter pulley 142 is mounted onan output shaft 144 (FIG. 3) of a main drive 146 and a drive belt 148 istrained about the drive pulley and variable diameter pulley. Positionedabout the surface drive belt is a belt frame 150 having one endpivotally mounted upon drive shaft 138 and an opposite end in which ashaft 152 is adjustably positioned to support the driven pulley 134. Thebelt frame is connected to the rod of an actuator 154 which has acylinder portion connected to a brace 156 extending transversely betweenthe side frame members. When the actuator contracts drawing the rod intothe cylinder portion, the belt frame pivots upwardly forcing the upperrun 136 of the surface drive belt into driving contact with the millroll. A constant air-pressure is maintained within the actuator as themill roll unwinds so that the belt frame is continuously urged upwardand driving contact is maintained between the surface drive belt andmill roll.

Constant web tension is maintained on a mill roll web, such as web WB,by controlling the speed at which the surface drive belt 20B is driven.The web is trained about a dancer roll 158 that is eccentricallysupported from a pivotal shaft 160 and balanced by a pair ofcounterweights 162 to maintain a normal position. A cam 164 is fixed tothe pivotal shaft in a position to contact an air regulator 166 as thedancer roll is lowered from the normal position. The air regulator is inflow communication with an actuator 168 that drives a sprocket wheel170. An adjusting sprocket 172 is coupled with the variable diameterpulley 142 and a drive chain 174 is trained about the sprocket wheel andadjusting sprocket. Rotation of the adjusting sprocket changes thediameter of the variable diameter pulley and thereby varies the speed atwhich the surface drive belt is driven, An idler roll 176 is resilientlyurged against the drive belt to eliminate slack and maintain propertension on the drive belt throughout the range of diameters for thevariable diameter pulley.

Operation of the roll stand begins with loading of mill rolls. Theoutboard core plug 78 at the loading position is removed after looseningsetscrew 84. If a core C of an expired roll remains on the sleeve 72, itis removed and a new mill roll is fitted about the sleeve and seatedupon the inboard core plug 78. The outboard core plug is seated withinthe core and locked in position on the sleeve by the setscrew. Clampingstructure 44 is actuated to release the shaft 36, which is then rotatedin a horizontal plane to position the new mill roll in a runningposition. The clamping structure is then locked about the cup 48 to holdthe shaft in position and support the cantilevered end. In order toalign the web of the mill roll with other Webs and processing stations,the roll can be shifted laterally by operating the reversible motor 94to turn the shaft 36. Rotation of the shaft causes the sleeves 72 tomove thereon and thus position both sleeves in the same relativeposition on opposite sides of the tubular spindle 30. Since bearing 46is free to turn within the cup 48, the shaft can be rotated while thecup is locked in place by the clamping structure. Thus, the mill roll isproperly aligned in a running position and the sleeve in the loadingposition is also aligned for running when needed. While the mill roll isrunning, a standby roll is loaded on the sleeve in the loading positionfor use when needed.

Although the best mode contemlated for carrying out the presentinvention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent thatmodification and variation may be made without departing from what isregarded to be the subject matter of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

Having completed a detailed description of the invention so that thoseskilled in the art could practice the same, we claim:

1. A web roll supporting apparatus comprising a horizontal shaft havingits mid portion mounted in a housing and having cantilevered endportions extending outwardly from opposite sides of the housing, meanson each shaft end portion for supporting web rolls to rotate relative tosaid shaft, means mounting said housing for rotation about a verticalaxis whereby the shaft end portions can be alternately positioned inrunning and loading positions, and means for supporting the outermostend of one of said shaft end portions when it is located in run ningposition.

2. A web roll supporting apparatus as described in claim 1, includingmeans for locking the outermost end of one of said shaft end portions tothe supporting means when in running position.

3. A web roll supporting apparatus as described in claim 1, includingmeans for spacing simultaneously the roll supporting means on each shaftend portion is positions equal distance from the vertical axis aboutwhich the housing rotates.

4. A web roll supporting apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein saidmeans for supporting web rolls for rotation include a pair of core plugsremovably mounted about one shaft end portion, each core plug having astationary mounting portion and a rotatable portion for supporting theweb roll.

5. A web roll supporting apparatus comprising a housing mounted forrotation about a vertical axis, a shatt extending from said housingalong a horizontal axis, means on said shaft for supporting a web rollfor rotation relative to the shaft, and means for spacing the web rollsupporting means at a desired distance from the vertical axis.

6. A stand for supporting a roll of flexible web material from which theweb is unwound for processing operations comprising a housing mountedfor rotation about a vertical axis, a shaft extending through saidhousing with opposite ends extending outwardly from opposite sides ofthe housing and having end portions threaded in opposite directions, apair of sleeves fitted about the outwardly extending shaft ends and eachsleeve being threadably connected to an end portion of the shaft formovement longitudinally of the shaft, a pair of core plugs for plugsremovably attached to each sleeve with portions for supporting said rollfor rotational movement about said sleeve, each of said sleeves beingslidably connected to the housing in a manner as to prevent rotationrelative thereto, and means for rotating said shaft within said housingcausing the threadably connected sleeves to travel along said shaft.

7. A stand as described in claim 6, wherein each sleeve has a bracket onopposite sides of said housing, a rod projecting towards said housingfrom each bracket and said housing having holes drilled therein toslidably receive said projecting rods and lock said sleeves againstrotation relative to the housing.

8. A stand as described in claim 6, including a support having astationary jaw positioned to receive an outermost end of said shaft anda movable jaw adapted to clamp the outermost end of said shaft to thestationary jaw for holding the shaft in a roll unwinding position.

9. A stand as described in claim 6, wherein said means for rotating saidshaft within said housing include a bevel gear keyed to said shaft, abevel pinion gear in mesh with the bevel gear and fixed to an end of avertical shaft, and means for turning said vertical shaft.

10. A plurality of stands as described in claim 6, each stand beingaligned to discharge a web towards a common processing station and eachstand being adjustable to position the web discharged therefrom inalignment with the web discharged from an other stand.

11. A method of mounting a mill roll on a converting machine comprisingthe steps of lifting the mill roll to a position where the mill rollcore is in alignment with a projecting shaft, fitting the mill roll uponthe projecting shaft in a loading position spaced from alignment with aline of web processing, and rotating said shaft in a horizontal plane toa running position where the mill roll is in alignment with the line ofWeb processing.

12. The method or" mounting a mill roll on a converting machine asdescribed in claim 11, including supporting the projecting shaft at thedistal end when the mill roll is in a running position.

13. The method of mounting a mill roll on a converting machine asdescribed in claim 11, including spacing the mill roll on the shaft inthe loading position with relationship to the running position so thatupon rotation of the shaft in a horizontal plane to the runningposition, the mill roll will be properly aligned.

14. The method of supplying mill rolls to a converting machine whichincludes the steps of lifting a first mill roll to a position where thecore is aligned with the distal end of a first projecting shaft, fittingthe first mill roll upon the first projecting shaft in a loadingposition spaced from the running line of the converting machine,rotating the first small roll andshaft in a horizontal plane to arunning position where the first mill roll is in alignment with therunning line of the converting machine, and loading a second mill rollon a second projecting shaft in the loading position while the firstmill roll is being unwound in the running position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1943 Kiefer 24279 5/ 1962Fredericksson et a1. 24279 US. 01. XtR.

